He said: “The assembly has failed to listen to the people of Merthyr over the forcing through of the Ffos-y-Fran opencast mine and on the closure of Merthyr’s sixth forms. On the Assembly’s watch, 60 years of manufacturing at Hoover was allowed to come to an end.”

Mr Howells said the assembly has squandered the opportunity to become a 21st century, hi-tech economy.

He said: “We remain the UK’s poorest nation, with the prosperity gap relative to the other three nations widening.

“Our manufacturing base has declined significantly and our private sector is smaller than any other part of the UK.”

“We are all UK citizens paying the same taxes, but since devolution we have received the same standards of service.”